APG 097 – Assumptions

The Asiana 214 Investigative Hearing took place last week, and I chime in with my “take-away.” Absent at the hearing was the pilot crew, although the NTSB did publish a summary of their interviews. Interesting read.

Concerned about several recent incidents involving sleeping or fatigued pilots and air traffic controllers, the FAA’s federal air surgeon, Dr. Fred Tilton ordered a new Sleep Apnea policy be enacted immediately. Is your BMI greater than 40? If so, the new rule would require you to undergo (and pay for) a full-blown sleep study to determine whether you suffer from Sleep Apnea. ALPA, AOPA, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, and other interested parties expressed their concern that this rule was being ramrodded into effect without proper hearings and rule-making protocols.

Southwest Airlines announced that it is introducing a new weather detection system that could potentially improve weather forecasting. The airline finished installing Water Vapor Sensing Systems (WVSS-II) on 87 of its Boeing 737s, which will by provide real-time humidity data for planes in flight and during takeoff and landing.

A 737-800 slid off the end of a slippery runway in Madison, WI last week. I play the ATC recording, and speculate on various scenarios that may have caused the excursion. Other news items include an update on the Thai Airways A330 runway excursion, a terrorist threat that was “nipped in the bud” at Wichita Mid-Continent airport, and a Pakistan International Airlines pilot who decided waiting on a sandwich delivery was worth delaying the international flight for two and a half hours. Must have been a good sandwich.